Come October 21, Microsoft will release Ninja Gaiden 4, a long-awaited collaboration between Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja and Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames. In typical Ninja Gaiden tradition, the franchise’s latest mainline entry is a return to “pure, rudimentary action.” But for a series famous for its punishing difficulty, navigating the fine line between “unreasonable” and “too easy” is not a simple task. AUTOMATON asked directors Yuji Nakao (PlatinumGames) and Masakazu Hirayama (Team Ninja) about how they approached this balance in Ninja Gaiden 4.
Whilst acknowledging that difficulty is ultimately subjective, the developers emphasized a crucial aspect of designing the “right” kind of difficulty – fairness. “What really stands out throughout the Ninja Gaiden series,” Nakao says, “is how enemies are on equal footing with the player. They guard, and they even use throws.” The developers made sure to keep this balance intact in Ninja Gaiden 4. “We focused not only on making the action feel satisfying, but also on offering the cathartic release of overcoming disadvantageous odds, that was a core part of development.”
And while it’s a given that you’ll die plenty before reaching your catharsis, the deaths need to feel like a consequence of your actions and decisions. As Hirayama explains, “I think fairness between the player and enemy is crucial. Whether or not a death feels like it was your fault is a huge part of maintaining that sense of fairness.”
“If the player gets killed unreasonably,” he explains, “it’s hard for them to reflect and think about what they could’ve done differently. But if they die because they made the wrong choice among several options, they’ll think, ‘Okay, let’s try this instead.’ That kind of trial-and-error cycle requires a fair dynamic between offense and defense to work. That’s something we talk about a lot at Team Ninja, and it’s something we’ve always valued throughout the series.”
Ultimately, whether Ninja Gaiden 4’s difficulty feels “just right” or not will depend on the player, but one thing director Nakao guarantees, as a longtime fan of the franchise, is that “it’s not a game you’ll be able to breeze through – I envision it as a game where a certain level of challenge or hardship is scattered throughout. That sense of catharsis you feel when you overcome those challenges is something I truly value.”
While it improves accessibility and offers customizable difficulty, the developers believe Ninja Gaiden 4 retains the intensity its predecessors are known for, achieving just the right balance.
Ninja Gaiden 4 launches on October 21 for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
